By Oregon Farm Bureau, Two weeks ago, OFB members and friends wrote to their legislators and asked them to oppose HB 3087. HB 3087 would tax employers and workers 0.5% of payroll to fund a paid family leave mandate of 12 weeks. This would cost many family businesses thousands of […]

Congressman Greg Walden, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and a strong proponent of hydropower, led a hearing on modernizing America’s hydropower infrastructure. During the hearing, Walden discussed the opportunities to expand hydropower in Oregon and across the country, and heard testimony […]

Congressman Kurt Schrader Oregon’s Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, along with Oregon’s Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Peter DeFazio and Kurt Schrader, have joined Senate and House colleagues in introducing the bipartisan Timber Innovation Act, which aims to find new and innovative uses for wood as building material. “Oregon’s rural economy […]

By Oregon Farm Bureau, Farm Bureau members advocate for Oregon ag in DC Farm Bureau members from Oregon were in Washington D.C. Feb. 27-March 1 to meet with federal legislators, sharing their stories and describing how public policy impacts their farms and ranches. They also joined hundreds of Farm Bureau […]

By Oregon Cattlemen Association In the midst of an over 1.6 billion-dollar budget shortfall, Oregon’s Legislature is filled with tension as Legislators, agencies, non-profits, and coalitions alike pour through House Bills and Senate Bills day in and day out from February 1st through July 10th. Does any of this really […]

By State Senator Dennis Linthicum, If a Democrat House member gets his way, the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) will load stiff economic, land and water management problems right into the lap of Oregon’s farmers, ranchers, cattle and dairymen. All water right holders will find themselves in a swamp-like slough […]

By Oregonians For Food and Shelter, Last week there were two OFS priority bills up for hearings. In the morning, the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on HB 2469. This bill would undermine the seed preemption law by exempting regulations on GMO crops from preemption. This would […]

American Farm Bureau The Senate joined the House in approving a Farm Bureau-supported resolution (H.J. Res. 44) to stop an Obama administration rule that would weaken the influence of local and regional input on Bureau of Land Management decisions. The resolution now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature. […]

By American Forest Research Council, The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) filed a legal challenge to Presidential Proclamation 9564, an order signed by President Obama in his final days of office nearly doubling the size of the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument in Southern Oregon and Northern California. AFRC President, Travis […]

By Oregonians for Food and Shelter While there were no OFS priority bills up for hearings this week (3/6-3/10), it was encouraging to see farmers in town testifying on a couple other important issues. The first was on Wednesday in the Senate Workforce Committee where SB 779 was up for […]